Advertisement

This is such a great time of the year to be a sports fan. Baseball is beginning to pick up steam, basketball and hockey are in the middle of their playoffs and the recent NFL draft gave every fan around the country hope for their team next season.

So, with all that in mind, let's start with the Tigers.

Tigers earning their stripes
After Friday's three-game sweep of the Yankees, the Tigers record now stands as 14-15, which puts them exactly 1.5 games out of first place in the American League Central Division.

This means that after that dismal 0-7 start, the boys of summer have won 14 of their last 22 games, which is a winning percentage of .636.

The sudden turnaround is amazing, and it's not coincidence that the Tigers started to score more runs when Curtis Granderson came back from the disabled list. Brandon Inge and Clete Thomas both admirably filled in centerfield during Granderson's absence, but let's face it, neither of players is Granderson. The Tigers centerfielder just might be the most valuable player on the entire Tigers' roster. He makes the offense go. His presence in the lineup alters the way defenses can play the Tigers and having him in the outfield makes the Tigers pitchers that much better.

In the eight games since his return to the everyday lineup, Granderson is hitting .310 with three homeruns. He has scored 11 runs, has an on-base percentage of .459 and has an amazing slugging percentage of .793. When the All-Star starting lineup is announced, Granderson should be the starting centerfielder for the American League.

And it's not just Granderson who has been hitting lately. Placido Polanco has emerged from his early season slump. He even had his first two-homerun game since 2005 this past week in New York.

I wasn't crazy about the move of Miguel Cabrera to first base and Carlos Guillen to third, and I know the Inge fans were up in arms about that one, but the move doesn't appear to have bothered either player. Guillen is leading the team with a .330 batting average and Cabrera is starting to warm up as well. The 25-year old is leading the team with six home runs and 22 RBIs. Add in Magglio Ordonez and his .315 average and 21 RBIs and the lineup is starting to produce as promised.

I said in an article after the 0-7 start that I thought the Tigers would be just fine. I'm standing by that and I'm going to add that, barring any catastrophic injury, the Tigers are going to win the World Series this year. I just can't see any team shutting down that lineup for four straight losses.

Pistons turn it up
The Pistons came back from a 2-1 deficit to finish off the pesky Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, winning the series 4-2. The 76ers series might have served as a wake up call to the Pistons, who looked a little lethargic after the first three games of the series. Thursday's 100-77 win looked more like the Pistons we have come to expect to see over the past six years. It was so bad after the first three games that former Piston Chris Webber, now a color-commentator on TNT, stated on-air that his former teammates just don't care.
I don't buy that, and given Weber's past shady dealings, he is hardly the person who should be casting judgment and questioning someone's heart. The Pistons are going to make the Eastern Conference and give everyone what they have wanted: a showdown with the big-three of Boston.
That will be a great series and I think the Pistons are going to win it. Rasheed Wallace always performs best on the biggest stage and Chauncey Billups will pick his game up a little more and the Pistons will advance to the Finals.

Red Wings look invincible
When will Chris Osgood finally get the respect he so richly deserves? I don't think I've ever seen a Stanley Cup-winning goalie garner such little respect as Osgood does around the league. Ever since he replaced Dominik Hasek in the Nashville series, Osgood has been solid in between the pipes. He hasn't been perfect, but he has made the stops he has needed to make and he has instilled a renewed confidence in the Wings.
The offense looked invincible in the recent four-game sweep of the Avalanche. Johan Franzen continues to elevate his game and Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg continue to look like the two best draft picks the organization has ever made. At this rate, I think the Wings are going to win the Stanley Cup, which would be great since it has been six years since the Wings have hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup in celebration.

Gosder who?
The Lions blew it again last Saturday at the NFL Draft in New York. First, they allowed teams to move up ahead of them in the draft to get the players that they coveted. Then, for some reason, they traded down and drafted Gosder Cherilus, an offensive lineman from Boston College who was only rated as the 32nd best player available in the draft.
Then, in the second round they drafted a linebacker who is way too little to play middle linebacker in the NFL. The word was that they liked his attitude. That's all fine, but that doesn't add up to making a quality player in the NFL.
Of all the Lions picks, I don't see one player who will make a quality NFL starter. Cherilus struggles with pass blocking, and the Lions plan on making him the starter on the right side of the line. My prediction is that in two to three years, not one player that the Lions drafted last week will still be with the team.
Neither will Matt Millen, for that matter, but that's a story for another day.

Andrew Selich is Sports Editor at the County Press. He can be reached at (810) 664-0811, Ext 8124.